Your credit score is a reflection of your credit habits as it provides the details on your outstanding loans and credit cards along with the outstanding and overdue amounts. Your credit score can be accessed through any of the following modes:
1. By Self? You can check your credit score through the websites of any of the 4 credit information companies operating in India. CRIF Highmark is the youngest of the lot and you can access your credit report by visiting the link? http://cir.crifhighmark.com. You can check your credit score through CRIF HighMark for free once every year.
2. By a Bank/ Lending Institution ?Banks generally have an access to the credit information database being maintained by Credit Information Companies. So, when you apply for a loan or a credit with a bank or a lending institution, it will typically access your credit report to know your credit behavior and the health of your outstanding loans and credit cards.
3. By Loan Marketplaces? Loan marketplaces like BankBazaar, PaisaBazaar, IndiaLends etc. generally offer consumers a facility to compare and apply for loans or credit cards from different banks through a single application. In this process, these platforms may also access your credit score to check your eligibility for loans/ credit cards. They may also offer you to check your credit score free from the credit information companies they would have partnered with. Since the facility is offered free, many visitors may be tempted to use such services. However, it must be noted that such marketplaces may retain your data that you provided directly on their website as well as what is sourced from credit information companies with your due consent. All such data can be directed to remarket more products to you in future, and also to build internal analytics. As such, you must also carefully read the terms and conditions that you consent on such lending marketplaces to know how and what will they use your data for.
With regards to the safety of your data, it is worth noting that your data is generally transmitted through secure servers in an encrypted form when your credit score is checked across the portals. As such, the information kept in credit databases with credit information companies or in transit while being checked by banks/ lending marketplaces is safe and secure.
However, you must also be aware that there is always a difference between checking your score by self or through banks. Whenever your credit score is checked for a prospective loan/ credit card application, it is also recorded as a credit inquiry in your credit report. A higher number of credit inquiries reflects you as a credit-hungry individual to the bank and also has an adverse impact on your credit score. Instead, you may check your credit score directly through credit information companies and avoid any adverse impact on your credit score. Check your credit score with CRIF HighMark for free once in a year by clicking here.
